Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Mined on Mainnet Without Soft Fork

StarkWare's Avihu Levy has achieved a breakthrough in quantum computing resistance for Bitcoin. On August 26, 2026, Levy's Quantum-Safe Bitcoin method transitioned from research to reality with the first quantum-safe transaction mined on the mainnet.

This demonstrates a functional solution for protecting Bitcoin holdings against future quantum computing threats before such computers widely exist. Levy's method allows coin holders to move assets into quantum-resistant storage without altering the fundamental rules of the Bitcoin network.

The QSB (Quantum-Safe Bitcoin) method relies on hash functions instead of elliptic curves, which are susceptible to being broken by Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm posing a threat to current cryptographic systems. The open-source implementation of QSB is available on GitHub, alongside the research paper detailing the method.

Levy said, 'Today shows otherwise.' StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson added, 'I still want Bitcoin to choose to do a soft fork and I expect we will get one.'